An applicator device for applying a viscous material such as a cosmetic material, as disclosed in German Pat. No. 3 641 392, corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 4,810,124, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein, comprises an elongate housing with an applicator member and a metering pump means provided between an outlet opening of a container for accommodating the viscous material and an inlet opening of a duct for feeding the viscous material to an applicator member. The metering pump means has a displaceable piston in a housing portion acting as a cylinder. One of the cylinder chambers defined therein communicates by way of a check valve with the inlet opening, which is to be opened and closed by the piston, of the feed duct to the applicator member and also with the outlet opening of the container. The piston is resiliently biased towards its position of closing the inlet opening of the feed duct. It is in that position that the volume of the one cylinder chamber is at its largest. The piston-cylinder unit forming the metering pump means is arranged lengthwise relative to the axis of the applicator device and in its longitudinal direction the piston has a projection in the form of a thrust member. By way of inclined surfaces the thrust member co-operates with an actuating member which is movable transversely with respect to the longitudinal direction of the applicator device and which projects out of the housing so that it can be operated to apply material from the device.
That construction is comparatively expensive and the change in direction of the actuating force for the metering pump means through 90.degree., which is produced by virtue of the inclined surfaces, can give rise to problems in operation.
German laid-open application (DE-OS) No 36 08 955 Al concerns an applicator device in which a piston-cylinder unit is arranged transversely with respect to the longitudinal axis of the applicator device, with the piston, in its position of closing off the feed of material to the applicator member, projecting out of the housing of the device. However, that design is a basic one in which the metering effect depends on the length of time for which the piston actuating member is acted upon which is an undesirable dependency.